Marshall Academy WTF?
- Thread starter Wesson Bulldog
- Start date
I was expecting the issue to be that Marshall refused to play after a call they disagreed with. But apparently they just refused to play because they didn't want to go get beat in the playoffs with the Jackson schools, and losing would send them to the lower tier playoffs? What the hell? I understand that it's a ****** reward to go get beat by schools that are on a completely different level from you and get to recruit, but why just refuse to play? Let the backups go play the whole game if you're that bent out of shape. Call bad plays. Whatever, but don't just refuse to play.
What a horrible message for the players. Telling them it's alright to be a little ***** and not try to be the best you can regardless of the odds.
I would hate to punish the players for what the coach/admin did, but Marshall needs to be banned from the playoffs for multiple seasons for that stunt.
Road games or not. they will likely win Division II. But a $7500 fine + losing 3 home games and the gate is going to be a pretty stiff financial penalty.
Road games or not. they will likely win Division II. But a $7500 fine + losing 3 home games and the gate is going to be a pretty stiff financial penalty.
Delta democrat times
In what can only be described as a redneck move, Marshall head coach Chris Bunio sat at least 13 players, refused to attempt an offensive play in the second half, and lost on purpose.
While the move may have seemed brilliant to him at the time, I hope it results in his team being banned from the very thing they hoped to accomplish.
In what can only be described as a redneck move, Marshall head coach Chris Bunio sat at least 13 players, refused to attempt an offensive play in the second half, and lost on purpose.
While the move may have seemed brilliant to him at the time, I hope it results in his team being banned from the very thing they hoped to accomplish.
it's inexcusable and not what we are to teach our young people. Shame on them, shame on the coach, shame on the administrators, and also shame on MAIS for creating a circumstance that was conducive to this happening.
We are supposed to be teaching our boys to be the best they can be and give their best.......and part of that is sometimes you play an opponent that you can't beat.....so you go out and try anyway, not knowing what the outcome may ultimately be.
Shame on them
We are supposed to be teaching our boys to be the best they can be and give their best.......and part of that is sometimes you play an opponent that you can't beat.....so you go out and try anyway, not knowing what the outcome may ultimately be.
Shame on them
So they got down 35 points which forced a running clock, then they just took delay of game penalties to run out the clock.
Coach needs to be fired and banned from coaching. Headmaster needs to be removed if he was in on it.
Coach needs to be fired and banned from coaching. Headmaster needs to be removed if he was in on it.
Learning how to lose is an important part of life. This is not the way to lose. This is quitting.
No need to punish future players. I think banning them for the playoffs for this year would be fine. Only reason I don't think it should be mandatory for them to be banned this year is that the MAIS bears some blame for setting up such a ridiculous system with bad incentives. A better punishment would be to make them the representative in the DI playoffs regardless, but then MAIS would have to acknowledge that they are essentially punishing teams by putting them in a playoff they can't compete in.
ETA: Ok, I was confused about what was going on. I thought winning would put them against the big 4. Essentially forfeiting a game to avoid the better class of 3A schools is more ridiculous. Is there some massive gap in size in 3A that is similar to the gap between the big 4 and the rest of the schools? Cause if there isn't, I don't even blame MAIS. The system may be stupid, but if it's not putting schools in a position where they just can't compete because of differences in size and recruiting, who would have even though a coach would ***** out and not want to claim that they made it into the real playoffs for their classification? It's like tanking at the end of the college basketball season because you think you can win the NIT but not the NCAA.
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They were an 8-1 team. They absolutely could have won the game to go 9-1. They wanted to compete for a lower championship. The MAIS created the atmosphere for this to happen. We discussed the possibility on this very board when the MAIS announced that nonsense.
The Executive Director firing for sleeping with an administrator of a member school will be the starting point of the death of the MAIS. This will be the catalyst to get things moving.
Tri-County is pretty good, but its not that big of a gap. The problem at TCA is they refuse to accept students (Gluckstadt/Flora kids) because they want to stay 3A.
That's just how some of those "academies" like to roll. And in the long run...
Sounds like private school sports have devolved to the lowest point possible, to the bottom of the barrel. Does the same sort of thing go on in public schools?
In an earlier topic, I read something about Brookhaven Academy doing something similar but have not been able to find any stories on it. If anyone has any info on that one please post.
The MHSAA office is antiquated, but its good competition and the member schools are solid for the most part.
The MAIS office is somehow more antiquated (check out their PHP website), and its corrupt and weak competition.
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From my understanding, Brookhaven just laid down and lost to Centreville and didn't look like they had any interest in winning. Centreville probably wins that game anyway, but not by 40 points.
If Marshall wanted to throw the game, they did it in the most egregious way possible.
Brookhaven plays in 4A Division III. If they would have won, they would have been in Division II with Starkville Academy, Parklane, etc. Instead they get Simpson, Pillow, Silliman
4A Division I created a different problem - where teams messed with seeding. It was always meant to be MRA, Hartfield, Prep and JA. Here's how the season went:
Hartfield went 5-5 and was 0-3 against MRA, Prep and JA, losing by 28, 21 and 19 points respectively
Prep was 7-4 and went 1-2, beating Hartfield by 21 and losing to JA by 9 and MRA by 28.
JA went 9-1 and went 2-1, beating Hartfield by 19, Prep by 9 and lost to MRA by 11
MRA went 9-1 (loss was Out of State) and went 3-0, beating Hartfield by 28, JA by 11 and Prep by 28.
If you don't know anything about anything, you would seed these teams for a playoff: 1. MRA, 2. JA, 3. Prep, 4. Hartfield
The actual seeding and matchups.
4. JA at 1. MRA
3. Prep at 2. Hartfield
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Every time I read about Mississippi private schools it blows my mind. Tennessee private schools are monsters, the difference is crazy. My sons go to Briarcrest and that division across the state is insane. Closer to small college than high school sports.
The average MAIS parent has no idea what is going on at private schools in Tennessee.
I just got back from a consulting job at one of the Nashville area private schools. They are in a different world than even the Big 4 here. I could not find one thing that our schools were doing on that level. Academics. Facilities, College Preparedness. Everything was on a different level, and this was a school that's considered one of the mid-tier Nashville private schools.
I'd love to transport some families at MRA, Prep, JA and Hartfield and tour some of the Memphis/Nashville/Chattanooga schools.
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The majority of MS private schools exist due to the public schools in the community being beyond terrible. Parents are mostly middle class and struggling to pay tuition (that isn't much comparatively speaking). Many of these schools operate on a shoestring budget and are in constant fear of not making payroll.
The big 4 in Jxn aren't near on the level of the top private schools in Memphis.
They did not bring cheerleaders and there were about 5 fans in the visitors bleachers. And as someone mentioned earlier they did not even line up over the ball, much less attempt to run a play, after the running clock started which was about midway through the second quarter. They took so many delay of games that the refs just eventually called a safety. They then would not kick the ball off so the refs called a forfeit with about 2 minutes left.
What most people don't realize is that even if Marshall had won they would not have been in the higher playoff tier. They were in the bottom tier regardless so it was all for nothing.
What most people don't realize is that even if Marshall had won they would not have been in the higher playoff tier. They were in the bottom tier regardless so it was all for nothing.
The issue is that you have four Mississippi private schools who could absolutely compete and compete consistently on the Briarcrest level, and the rest are not close. There are no great solutions.
Ideally you'd have schools like Mag Heights, Pillow, Parklane, Brookhaven, Lamar, Regents, etc. step up their game and compete. But it seems like the gap is only growing. And PCS just said eff it and went back to MHSAA.
THIS cannot be emphasized enough. Why punish Marshall Academy for doing exactly what you set up a system to encourage them to do? Marshall didn't make a travesty of the game, MAIS did.
I've paid my fair share of tuition over the years, so I respect anyone that does it because they feel it's a better fit for their kids. Just wanted to be clear about that. Kudos to any parent who decides that's what is best and makes sacrifices for it to happen.
From my interviews with families in Nashville, there is a huge mindset difference that we would have to overcome.
Big 4 schools want to be the best in Mississippi. They want to beat the other three at all cost so they are considered best in MS. They want their kids to go to State or Ole Miss (which is fine). Its not uncommon to see kids from these schools go to JUCO.
Those families in Nashville want to be world class. They want to be the best in the nation. They are sending kids to Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice, or the Ivy League. A kid going to Sewanee is okay, and sometimes its okay if a kid ends up in Knoxville or Lexington. MTSU or Tennessee Tech? "What a waste" was actually said to me.
As ridiculous as that might sound, it is the mindset that school is working with. Again, a mid-tier school in Nashville, not MBA or USN.
If you grow up in Memphis like I did, when people ask where you went to school, they aren't asking about college, they mean what high school (usually what private high school). I imagine it's the same in Nashville.
Why is that a problem? Isn't that what you are advocating for a MSU? Having a higher standard for students and not just taking anyone?
Ben Durham is Central Hinds’ head coach…
This is his first year there. He previously was head coach at…
…
…
Marshall. And Marshall was AAA runner up last year.
(The Truth don’t need Sarcasterisks…)
This is what that chicken shitt division and split playoff does in mais. Get rid of it. If you are good enough then you will win. If you aren't you won't. Winning 2-3 games and going to a playoff is wrong and losing to go to lower play off is wrong. Just move to a public school conference and call it a day. Or move all the big Jackson private schools and call it a day.
I don't think this is nearly as true as you think it is.
Do a majority of them go to state or ole miss? Yes but there are a number of factors to that. Not many parents at Prep and JA and MRA would rather their kid pic State/Ole Miss over Duke or Stanford unless there is some underlying reason like costs. And not every kid that goes to JA or MRA is from a rich family.
So is there an extra game? How did they make Central Hinds Playoff eligible and keep the rest of the brakets the same? Or was Marshall going to get a bye?
It should be an easy fix. And most of the schools don't like the current setup. At least the fans don't.
Just have 1A to 5A.
Yes a few schools will have to play up in 5A against the big 4 but you can rotate that every few years if you need to.
One problem is that small schools can’t always rely on maintaining a stable student population of a niche size…
Similar things happen every weekend in youth sports with time limits + runs/points allowed, run/point differential and all that going into tournament seedings. You see coaches try to run out the clock to manage seedings vs trying to get 3 quick outs to give their team another at bat to try to win the game. Not to the level of this case obviously, but it happens all the time.